Polish commission probing Russian influence recommends investigating opposition figures

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – A report published Wednesday by a special commission investigating Russian and Belarusian interference in Polish affairs has recommended investigations into leading opposition figures.

“The Commission unanimously recommends that the (report's) collected materials be transferred to the appropriate prosecutor's office in order to make a legal and criminal assessment of the possibility of (former Defense Minister) Antoni Macierewicz committing a crime under Article 129 of the Penal Code, i.e. diplomatic treason,” said General Jaroslaw Strozyk, the chairman of the commission for the study of Russian and Belarusian influence in 2004-2024, after presenting the report in Warsaw.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk established the commission in May and specifically named Macierewicz, who is currently deputy leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, as a person of interest in the investigation, accusing him of “dramatically weakening the defense capabilities of the Polish state” and “introducing into the most sensitive places people who never hid their clearly pro-Russian sympathies…The noose of information we are collecting is tightening around Antoni Macierewicz. It is truly ghastly that this man had such an influence on what was happening in Poland.”

Investigative journalist Grzegorz Rzeczkowski found evidence that Russian-backed operatives sought to discredit the pro-European Union Civic Platform (PO) government a year before the elections it lost to the Euroskeptic PiS in late 2015.

Rzeczkowski says a 2014 wiretapping operation that targeted PO politicians had a major impact on shifting support from PO to PiS in 2015. Macierewicz – who has been at the heart of Poland's intelligence community – is alleged to have had connections with a pro-Russian party.

“The Commission has so far identified a number of activities that meet the foreign policy goals of Russia and Belarus and were in line with the modus operandi of the special services of these countries in terms of initiatives aimed at weakening Poland's potential,” said Strozyk, adding that "analyses of some selected issues indicate direct Russian influence."

This comes as the Polish government cracks down on what it says is a Russian “hybrid war” against Poland in recent years. Last week, Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, ordered the closure of one of three Russian consulates in Poland in response to acts of sabotage including arson attacks that he said were sponsored by Moscow. Sikorski cited the arrest in January of a Ukrainian citizen who he said admitted that Russian agents told him to carry out an arson attack in the city of Wroclaw.

The report lists preventing the purchase of weapons for the Polish armed forces and financing by the Polish state and economic entities of entities supporting Russia's policy in the US.

Strozyk also spoke about "the destruction of the potential of Polish special services and the failure of the Polish government to prepare for the effects of Russia's aggression against Ukraine in 2022."

“The president's entourage is hiding information about the activities of the (former) head of the Ministry of National Defense, Antoni Macierewicz, from the commission,” Strozyk said.